Method and kits for converting a two seat utility vehicle to a four seat configuration and for providing an extended bed thereon

ABSTRACT

A utility vehicle has a frame that is separable at a location passing through an operator compartment of the vehicle into front and rear sections with the seat base and seat assembly of the operator compartment remaining with the rear section and the rest of the operator compartment remaining with the front section. A seat extension kit is provided having a frame extension, a seat module, and a floorboard module that may be inserted between the split front and rear sections with the frame extension being fastened to such sections using pre-existing fastener holes in the vehicle frame and the frame extension. When so inserted, the seat module forms a new front row of seating with the floorboard module extending between the seat module and the original seat base and seat assembly, which now form a rear row of seating. This expands the vehicle seating capacity from two people to four people.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a utility vehicle for performing outdoorground maintenance activities on ground and turf surfaces, landscapes,and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Grounds maintenance utility vehicles, such as the Toro® Workman®, arewell known. These small vehicles have an operator compartment thatcarries a driver and a passenger in a side-by-side seating arrangement.A bed is provided on the vehicle behind the operator compartment forcarrying various equipment, supplies, tools, and the like, which areuseful in establishing, maintaining, renovating and grooming landscapesand ground or turf surfaces. Various ground grooming or working tools orimplements, such as sprayers, spreaders, topdressers, aerators, and thelike, may be coupled to or carried on the vehicle according to theoperation the user wishes to perform.

Traditionally, utility vehicles have been provided with side-by-sideseating for two people only. There is a market that is smaller and lesspredictable for utility vehicles having two rows of seating for carryingfour people. In order to serve this market, some manufacturers ofutility vehicles have manufactured and stocked two separate vehicles,one having a two seat configuration and the other having a four seatconfiguration. However, due to the less predictable and harder toforecast four seat market, the manufacturer is presented with anunpleasant choice. The manufacturer can build a large number of fourseat utility vehicles and risk overbuilding with the attendant financialcosts that are imposed if excess inventory results due to weaker thanexpected demand. Or, alternatively, the manufacturer can be conservativein the number of four seat utility vehicles that are built and risk notbeing able to satisfy unexpected customer demand. This invention isdirected to removing the need to make this choice while satisfyingwhatever customer demand for four seat utility vehicles might appear inthe market.

In addition, the standard bed provided on the vehicle is fairly short,typically four feet in length from front to back. This limits the loadcarrying capacity of the bed. A longer bed could theoretically be usedto replace the standard bed, but the extra length would simply becantilevered off the rear end of the vehicle. Such a cantileveredportion of the longer bed would not be properly supported and may causethe bed to fracture if large loads are placed atop the cantileveredportion. Moreover, such a cantilevered portion would increase the riskof hitting something during tight turns of the vehicle. Accordingly, itwould also be advantageous to be able to use a longer than standard bedon a utility vehicle without facing the above-noted problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of this invention relates to a method of converting a utilityvehicle from a two seat configuration to a four seat configuration. Themethod comprises providing a utility vehicle having a frame that carriesa pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels for supporting theframe for rolling movement over a ground or turf surface. An operatorcompartment is located on the frame between the front and rear wheels,the operator compartment including a first seat assembly for seating adriver and a passenger in a side-by-side manner and a first floorboardon which the legs of the driver and the passenger rest when the driverand the passenger are seated on the first seat assembly. A load carryingfirst bed is carried on the frame behind the operator compartment. Theframe is separable into a front frame portion that carries the frontwheels and a rear frame portion that carries the rear wheels. The methodfurther comprises providing a seat extension kit having a frameextension, a second seat assembly for seating two additional people in aside-by-side manner, and a second floorboard. The second seat assemblyand the second floorboard are carried by the frame extension when theseat extension kit is assembled. Finally, the method contains the stepsof separating the front and rear frame portions for movement relative toone another, moving the front and rear frame portions away from oneanother to create a gap therebetween, and installing the seat extensionkit into the gap to expand the utility vehicle from a two seatconfiguration to a four seat configuration due to the addition of thesecond seat assembly and the second floorboard to the vehicle.

Another aspect of this invention relates to an expandable utilityvehicle system which can be converted from a two seat configuration to afour seat configuration. The system comprises a utility vehicle having aframe that carries a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels forsupporting the frame for rolling movement over a ground or turf surface.An operator compartment is located on the frame between the front andrear wheels, the operator compartment including a first seat assemblyfor seating a driver and a passenger in a side-by-side manner and afirst floorboard on which the legs of the driver and the passenger restwhen the driver and the passenger are seated on the first seat assembly.A load carrying first bed is carried on the frame behind the operatorcompartment. The frame is separable into a front frame portion thatcarries the front wheels and a rear frame portion that carries the rearwheels. The system further comprises a seat extension kit having a frameextension, a second seat assembly for seating two additional people in aside-by-side manner, and a second floorboard. The second seat assemblyand the second floorboard are carried by the frame extension when theseat extension kit is assembled between the front and rear portions ofthe vehicle frame to provide an additional row of seating in the vehiclesuch that the vehicle is capable of carrying four people rather than twopeople.

Yet another aspect of this invention relates to a utility vehicle whichcomprises a frame that is separable at a location passing through anoperator compartment of the vehicle into front and rear sections with aseat base and a seat assembly of the operator compartment remaining withthe rear section and the operator compartment forward of the seat baseand the seat assembly remaining with the front section. A seat extensionkit is received between the separable front and rear sections of theframe. The seat extension kit has a frame extension, a seat module, anda floorboard module that may be inserted between the separable front andrear sections of the frame with the frame extension of the extension kitbeing fastened to the front and rear sections of the frame by aplurality of fasteners which use pre-existing fastener holes provided inthe front and rear sections of the frame and in the frame extension. Theseat module when installed forms a new front row of seating and thefloorboard module when installed extends between the seat module and theseat base and seat assembly which seat base and seat assembly form arear row of seating located behind the installed seat and floorboardmodules of the seat extension kit, thereby expanding the utilityvehicle's seating capacity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention will be described more completely in the followingDetailed Description, when taken in conjunction with the followingdrawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a utility vehicleaccording to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the vehicle of FIG. 1,particularly illustrating the frame of the vehicle and a portion of thefloorboard of the vehicle;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view from the rear of the frame of the vehicleshown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the frame of thevehicle shown in FIG. 2, particularly illustrating a clevis/pin couplingused in the frame between front and rear frame portions;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a seat extension kit that isused according to a method of this invention to convert the vehicle ofFIG. 1 from a two seat to a four seat configuration;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1, particularlyillustrating the vehicle having been split apart into front and rearsections in order to receive the seat extension kit of FIG. 5 in the gaptherebetween;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 6, but illustrating theseat extension kit having been dropped into the gap between the splitfront and rear sections of the vehicle;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 7, but showing the vehiclehaving been reunited as a complete vehicle with the seat extension kitsecured between the previously split front and rear sections of thevehicle to provide seating for four people rather than two people as inthe original vehicle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the vehicle shown in FIG. 8,particularly the seat assembly for the rear row of seating having beenremoved in preparation for receiving an extended bed that is shown inexploded form;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 9, but showing theextended bed in place on the vehicle; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a portion of the vehicle of FIG. 1,particularly illustrating the hollow central beam of a front frameportion of the vehicle and the routing of various flexible componentsthat extend between the front and rear frame portions of the vehiclethrough the interior of the central beam.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of an outdoor utility vehicle 2 to whichthe method and kit of this invention is directed. Vehicle 2 as depictedis a Workman® utility vehicle manufactured and sold by The Toro Company,the assignee of this invention. Similar vehicles are manufactured andsold by other companies, such as the Gator™ utility vehicle of Deere &Company. This invention is equally applicable to all such utilityvehicles.

As shown in FIG. 1, vehicle 2 has a frame 4 that carries a pair oflaterally spaced front wheels 6 and a pair of laterally spaced rearwheels 8 for supporting frame 4 for rolling movement over a ground orturf surface. An operator compartment 10 is located on frame 4 betweenfront and rear wheels 6 and 8. Operator compartment 10 includes a seatassembly 12 configured to provide a row of side-by-side seating for adriver and a passenger of vehicle 2, a box like seat base 14 whichcarries seat assembly 12, a floorboard 16 made in two separate partscomprising an upwardly and forwardly inclined front portion 18 and ahorizontal rear portion 20 on which the legs of the driver and thepassenger rest when they are seated on seat assembly 12, an acceleratorpedal 22, a brake pedal 24, and a steering column 26 that mounts asteering wheel 28 located in front of the seated driver. Seat assembly12 may comprise a pair of side-by-side bucket seats 13 or an elongatedbench type seat (not shown). Operator compartment 10 also includes anupper dashboard 30 located above accelerator and brake pedals 22, 24 forcarrying various other vehicle operational controls that are easilyaccessible by the seated driver.

In addition to the above, a front hood 31 is carried on frame 4 forwardof operator compartment 10. A load carrying bed 32 is carried on frame 4behind operator compartment 10. Bed 32 can in some embodiments of thisinvention comprise the floor of a dump box 33 having a pivotal tailgateas shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, bed 32 can simply be a planar flatsurface. Preferably, bed 32 has a length that is approximately equal tothe front-to-back distance of operator compartment 10 to provide bed 32with a significant load carrying capacity.

Referring now to FIG. 2, frame 4 comprises a front frame portion 34 thatincludes a central, hollow, fore-and-aft extending, and four-sided boxbeam 36 having a laterally extending, substantially rectangular, boxframe 38 over the rearward portion thereof. Rear floorboard portion 20,which has been shown in exploded form in FIG. 2 for the sake of clarity,is normally carried on top of box frame 38 to substantially completelyoverlie and cover box frame 38. Box frame 38 includes two fore-and-aftextending front side rails 40 that are disposed at equal distances fromand laterally outside of the fore-and-aft axis x of central beam 36. Therear ends of front side rails 40 extend rearwardly of the rear end ofcentral beam 36. A clevis mount 42 is releasably bolted or otherwisesecured to the rear end of central beam 36 to provide a releasableclevis/pin coupling, the purpose of which will be described hereafter.

Referring further to FIG. 2, frame 4 further comprises a rear frameportion 44 that includes two fore-and-aft extending rear side rails 46.Rear side rails 46 are rigidly connected together to each other byvarious cross members. In addition, rear side rails 46 are laterallyspaced apart by a distance slightly less than the distance between thepair of front side rails 40. This allows the front ends of rear siderails 46 to overlap and be bolted to the rear ends of front side rails40 using a plurality of bolts 48 as shown in FIG. 2 to unite front andrear frame portions 34, 44 of frame 4 together. However, as will beexplained in more detail hereafter, this bolt type connection isreleasable as part of this invention to separate front and rear frameportions 34, 44.

Each rear side rail 46 comprises a substantially horizontal forwardsegment 48, a substantially horizontal rearward segment 50, and anS-shaped intermediate segment 52 that joins forward and rearwardsegments 48, 50 together with rearward segment 50 being elevated aboveforward segment 48 by the height provided by the S-shaped curve ofintermediate segment 52. This elevation is necessary to allow a primemover 54, such as, but not limited to, an internal combustion engine,and a traction drive system 56, such as, but not limited to, amechanical differential powered by prime mover 54, to be located beneathrearward segments 50 of rear side rails 46. Bed 32 is carried atoprearward segments 50 of rear side rails 46 with a rearward portion ofbed 32 overhanging past the rear ends of rear side rails 46 if sodesired. See FIG. 1.

As further shown in FIG. 2, rear frame portion 44 further includes asubframe 58 comprising a pair of cylindrical side members 60. Sidemembers 60 have forward portions that are inwardly inclined relative toone another to converge towards one another as side members 60 extendforwardly. The converging forward portions of side members 60 have aplatform 62 at the rear thereof where the space between side members 60is the widest. Platform 62 carries prime mover 54 of vehicle 2. Inaddition, side members 60 of subframe 58 have raised rearward portions64 that are united by a rear cross beam 66 as best shown in FIG. 3.Raised rearward portions 64 of side members 60 carry traction drivesystem 56 that powers rear wheels 8 of vehicle 2. Any appropriate powersupplying couplings, e.g. a mechanical drive shaft in the case whereprime mover 54 is an engine and traction drive system 56 is a mechanicaldifferential, may be made between prime mover 54 and traction drivesystem 56. Thus, rear wheels 8 comprise a pair of non-steerable drivewheels that self-propel vehicle 2 over the ground using the powersupplied by prime mover 54 acting through traction drive system 56.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the converging forward portions of side members60 are connected together at their forwardmost ends by a horizontal,forwardly extending eyelet 68. Eyelet 68 of side members 60 of subframe58 is received between the flanges of clevis mount 42 located at therear end of central beam 36 of front frame portion 34. This permits boltor pin 70 70 which is supported by the vertically spaced flanges ofclevis mount 42 to pass through an elastomeric, dumbbell shaped bushingor isolator 72. Isolator 72 has a central through bore through whichbolt or pin 70 passes. Isolator 72 is also shaped to provide a reduceddiameter central portion 74 around which eyelet 68 is placed withenlarged diameter ends 76 of isolator 72 overlying the top and bottomsurfaces of eyelet 68 after one of the enlarged diameter ends 76 ofisolator 72 is compressed enough to pull the compressed end of isolator72 through eyelet 68 to preassemble isolator 72 in eyelet 68 prior toassembly of eyelet 68 and isolator 72 in clevis mount 42.

Isolator 72 is sufficiently compressible and flexible to provide somerelative motion between eyelet 68 and clevis mount 42. This structureallows subframe 58 that carries prime mover 54, traction drive system56, and rear wheels 8 to pitch up and down about a substantiallyhorizontal axis and to roll slightly side to side about a longitudinalaxis relative to front frame portion 34 during operation of vehicle 2over uneven ground. This prevents the transmission of shocks to operatorcompartment 10 and helps rear wheels 8 remain in contact with the groundover uneven terrain to improve traction performance. Despite thispitching and rolling motion, subframe 58 is still sufficiently connectedto the rest of rear frame portion 44, e.g. by various coil over shockabsorbers 78, other connecting linkages 80 and 81, and the like, to forma part of rear frame portion 44, but just a part that has the relativepitching and rolling motion described above.

Front wheels 6 of vehicle 2 are coupled to opposite sides of a forwardportion of central beam 36 of front frame portion 34 by substantiallyidentical front wheel suspension assemblies 82. The left front wheel 6has been removed from FIGS. 2 and 3 to allow the left front wheelsuspension assembly 82 to be visible. As can be seen in FIG. 2, eachfront wheel suspension assembly 82 includes a wishbone suspension arm 84pivotally connected to the adjacent side of central beam 36 by ahorizontal pivot pin 86. Pivot pin 86 provides an upward and downwardground following action for the attached front wheel 6. A coil overshock absorber 88 extends between suspension arm 84 and another portionof frame 4 to absorb and dampen the upward and downward motion of theattached front wheel 6 to increase the comfort of the ride and thestability of vehicle 2. The outer end of suspension arm 84 includes asubstantially vertical pivot 90 to allow the attached front wheel 6 tobe swung or steered about the axis of pivot 90 when the motion ofsteering wheel 28 is communicated to the attached front wheel 6 througha steering linkage (not shown). Thus, front wheels 6 of vehicle 2comprise a pair of unpowered but steerable wheels. In an alternativeembodiment, front wheels 6 could be selectively powered in an on demandfour wheel drive mode or continuously powered when rear wheels 8 arepowered in a full time four wheel drive mode.

It may not be immediately apparent from the above, but the primaryphysical connections between front frame portion 34 and rear frameportion 44 of vehicle 2 comprise side rail bolts 48 that secure the rearends of front side rails 40 to the front ends of rear side rails 46along with bolt or pin 70 of clevis mount 42 that couples central beam36 of front frame portion 34 to eyelet 68 of subframe 58 of rear frameportion 44. When side rail bolts 48 are loosened and removed and whenbolt or pin 70 of clevis mount 42 coupling is unbolted and pulledupwardly out of clevis mount 42, vehicle 2 may be pulled apart into twoseparate front and rear sections. This is shown in FIG. 5 hereof.Isolator 72 has been removed from eyelet 68 of subframe 58 of rear frameportion 44 in FIG. 5, where it would normally be retained when vehicle 2is split apart, for the sake of more clearly showing eyelet 68 in FIG.5.

As is clear in FIG. 5, vehicle 2 preferably, though not necessarily,splits apart through the middle of operator compartment 10. The frontsection of vehicle 2 includes front frame portion 34, the steerablefront wheels 6, all of operator compartment 10 forward of seat base 14and the seat assembly 12, and hood 31. Thus, with respect to operatorcompartment 10, the entire floorboard 16, including both the inclinedfront portion 18 and horizontal rear portion 20 thereof, steering column26 and steering wheel 28, accelerator pedal 22, brake pedal 24, anddashboard 30 with its operational controls all remain with the frontsection of vehicle 2. All of the rest of vehicle 2, including seat base14 and seat assembly 12 of operator compartment 10, comprises the rearsection of vehicle 2. One or more wheeled dollies (not shown) arepreferably used to support one or both of the sections of vehicle 2 asand after vehicle 2 is split into the sections thereof to prevent theseparated sections from tipping about their wheels into contact with theground and to maintain the separated sections in their normallyhorizontal orientations.

Once vehicle 2 is split apart as described above, this invention furthercomprises a multi-passenger seat extension kit 92 for converting vehicle2 to carry four people rather than two people. Seat extension kit 92 isshown in FIG. 6 in an exploded form. Seat extension kit 92 comprisesthree major components: 1.) a frame extension 94, 2.) a seat module 96;and 3.) a floorboard module 98. These components will be described inturn.

Frame extension 94 comprises a pair of side rail extensions 100 and acentral beam extension 102 that are united together by various crossmembers. The forward portions of side rail extensions 100 overlie andare bolted to the forward portions of front side rails 40 of front frameportion 34. In addition, once clevis mount 42 is removed from the rearend of central beam 36 of front frame portion 34, the front end ofcentral beam extension 102 includes attachment flanges 103 that bolt tothe rear end of central beam 36 of front frame portion 34 to allowcentral beam extension 102 to lengthen central beam 36 by approximately36 inches or so. Note that clevis mount 42, a portion of which is shownin FIG. 6, is then remounted to the rear end of central beam extension102. Frame extension 94 further includes a laterally extending,substantially rectangular, box frame 104 over the rearward portionthereof that is a substantial duplicate of box frame 38 on front frameportion 34.

Floorboard module 98 comprises a substantial duplicate of the horizontalrear portion 20 of floorboard 16 on front frame portion 34. Floorboardmodule 98 will be attached to box frame 104 on frame extension 94. As isclear from FIG. 6, floorboard module 98 when so attached will be behindseat module 96. As shown best in FIGS. 7 and 8, when seat extension kit92 is entirely installed in vehicle 2, floorboard module 98 will becomethe floorboard for the original seat assembly 12, which now forms a rearrow of passenger seats in vehicle 2.

Turning finally to seat module 96, seat module 96 comprises asubstantial duplicate of seat base 14 and the original seat assembly 12of vehicle 2. Thus, to promote cost savings and maintain a uniform lookin the extended vehicle 2, seat module 96 preferably, but notnecessarily, uses the same molded seat base front panel, both seat baseside panels, and the seat pan that supports the seats 13 of seatassembly 12 which seat pan closes off the top of the seat base 14. Seatbase 14 for the original seat assembly 12 was open along the rear sideas that side was positioned adjacent to and/or abutted against theraised section of rear frame portion 44 to be largely hidden from view.However, since the rear side of seat module 96 will be exposed and beclearly visible to the passengers in the rear row of seats or to peopleoutside vehicle 2, seat module 96 includes an additional rear panel 106that closes off the open rear side of the seat base of seat module 96 ina way that was not true in the original seat base 14. In order to savecost, rear panel 106 of seat module 96 is preferably a duplicate of themolded front panel used as the front wall of the original seat base 14to avoid any extra tooling costs for making rear panel 106. When seatmodule 96 is installed on frame extension 94 forwardly of floorboardmodule 98, floorboard module 98 will entirely fill in the space betweenseat module 96 and the rear row of passenger seats. Seat assembly 12 nowadded by seat module 96 provides the new side-by-side front driver andpassenger seating and will be positioned in the same place as theoriginal driver and passenger seat assembly 12 when front and rear frameportions 34, 44 are reunited. In this case, floorboard 16 which remainedon front frame portion 34 when front and rear frame portions 34, 44 wereoriginally split becomes the floorboard for the newly added seats.

FIG. 7 depicts seat extension kit 92 in a fully assembled form andplaced into the gap between the split front and rear frame portions 34,44 of vehicle 2. If front and rear frame portions 34, 44 of vehicle 2are then rolled into engagement with frame extension 94 of seatextension kit 92, the forward portions of side rail extensions 100 canbe bolted to the forward portions of front side rails 40 of front frameportion 34 of vehicle 2, central beam extension 102 can be bolted to therear end of central beam 36 of front frame portion 34 of vehicle 2, andthe rearward portions of side rail extensions 100 can be bolted to thefront of rear side rails 46 of rear frame portion 44 of vehicle 2 as inthe non-split vehicle. Bolt or pin 70 and then be reinserted into clevismount 42, which has been repositioned to the rear end of central beamextension 102 as described earlier herein. This recouples eyelet 68 ofsubframe 58 of rear frame portion 44 of vehicle 2 to clevis mount 42that is now positioned on the rear end of central beam extension 102 offrame extension 94.

While it is possible and perhaps in some cases preferable to preassemblethe components of seat extension kit 92 together before they areinstalled in the split vehicle, seat extension kit 92 may in many casesbe assembled in situ component by component. In this assembly scenario,frame extension 94 of seat extension kit 92 would first be installedwithout such frame extension 94 carrying either seat module 96 orfloorboard module 98. This alone would reunite front and rear frameportions 34, 44 of vehicle 2. With frame extension 94 in place, seatmodule 96 and floorboard module 98 could then be mounted to frameextension 94. In the case of seat module 96, seat base 14 may have to beassembled from disassembled component parts thereof and seat assembly 12installed atop the assembled seat base. This assembly of seat module 96can also be done component by component on top of the assembled andinstalled frame extension 94 or seat module 96 could be assembledseparately from frame extension 94 and then dropped onto the assembledand installed frame extension 94. Floorboard module 98 is a single pieceand is preferably placed onto frame extension 94 before seat module 96.

There may be various ancillary components that also extend between thefront and rear sections of vehicle 2 besides the primary physicalconnections described above. Such ancillary components can comprisehydraulic hoses (not shown), wiring harnesses 112, mechanical controlcables 114 such as Bowden cables, and the like. See FIG. 11. The need todisconnect, extend or replace such ancillary components was notdiscussed above with respect to the conversion of vehicle 2 from a twoseat to a four seat configuration as such ancillary components arefairly easy to deal with by comparison. Moreover, there are steps thatcan be taken to allow such ancillary components to accommodate theconversion with a minimal need for disconnection of replacement.

For example, to ease the task of making the conversion, any hydraulichoses or wiring harness running from front to back in the two seaterproduction version of vehicle 2 can be given some extra length or slackby putting the hoses or wiring harness into an S-shaped length extendingcurve. Thus, when front and rear frame portions 34, 44 of vehicle 2 arefully spread apart, the hoses and wiring harness will be able to stillextend as far as need be simply by straightening out the S-shaped curveto use the available slack, thus avoiding the need for splicing in orconnecting additional lengths of hose or wiring harness. All of theoperational controls using mechanical wires like Bowden cables or thelike, e.g. the parking brake, the choke, the shift control, thethrottle, etc., will now be located in operator compartment 10 or beprovided on dashboard 30. Thus, while the original equipment cables forsuch controls will need to be replaced with longer lengths in theconversion, the placement of the controls within operator compartment 10does not become a hindrance to the conversion since the controllocations themselves remain fixed and unchanging.

Referring now to FIG. 11, the ancillary components comprising theaforementioned elongated flexible connecting members, namely thehydraulic hoses, wiring harnesses 112, and control cables 114, arepreferably routed from front frame portion 34 to rear frame portion 44through the interior of central beam 36. These flexible connectingmembers are supported inside of central beam 36 by a lower wall 116 ofcentral beam 36 that prevents the connecting members from falling outthrough the bottom of central beam 35. Lower wall 116 of central beam 36is best seen in FIG. 4. Returning now to FIG. 11, the flexibleconnecting members exit the rear end of central beam 36 through one ormore side openings 118 in each side wall of central beam 36 and throughgaps or spaces in the rear of clevis 42.

Preferably, central beam extension 102 of extension kit 92 is shapedidentically to central beam 36 to form a continuation of the openinterior of central beam 36. Thus, all of the hydraulic hoses, wiringharnesses 112 and control cables 114 that necessarily pass from frontframe portion 34 to rear frame portion 44 pass through the interior ofcentral beam extension 102, are supported in the interior of centralbeam extension 102 by a lower wall of central beam extension 102 in thesame manner as lower wall 116 of central beam 36, and exit the rear endof central beam extension 102 in the same manner as was true of centralbeam 36. Note that when extension kit is installed in vehicle 2, thatclevis 42 is repositioned from the rear end of central beam 36 to therear end of central beam extension 102. This routing of the hydraulichoses, wiring harnesses 112 and control cables 114 in a single locationalong the fore-and-aft spine of vehicle 2 eases the task of convertingvehicle 2 from a two seat to a four seat configuration.

Once seat extension kit 92 is fully installed in the split vehicle, thereassembled but extended vehicle will appear as shown in FIG. 8. Theextended vehicle clearly can carry four people rather than two. Rearframe portion 44 of vehicle 2 still carries prime mover 54 and itsrelated components, e.g. the fuel tank for prime mover 54 when primemover 54 is an internal combustion engine is located within seat base 14of the original seat assembly 12, as well as traction drive system 56,and bed 32. Thus, these major components do not have to be repositionedbut simply remain with rear frame portion 44 when front and rear frameportions 34, 44 are split apart and rolled away from one another.Similarly, front frame portion 34 retains the operational controls forallowing the driver to operate and drive vehicle 2 over the ground,including the accelerator and brake controls that control the speed andoperation of the traction drive and prime mover 54 as well as the otheroperational controls carried on dashboard 30. This substantially easesthe task of converting vehicle 2 from a two seat to a four seatconfiguration.

With seat extension kit 92 of this invention, a manufacturer need nottry to accurately predict the demand for four seat vehicles. Instead,the manufacturer need only build a two seat version and then supply theaforesaid seat extension kits to allow a customer who wants a four seatversion to obtain one at the distributor level. Currently, manufacturershave to build as OEM products both two seat and four seat vehicles andstock and supply both to distribution. The conversion between the twoseat base vehicle and the four seat extended vehicle using seatextension kit 92 of this invention can be done either at themanufacturer or distributor level depending upon how vehicles 2 aremarketed by the manufacturer to end user customers in response to anorder received from a customer.

Moreover, having the ability to switch back and forth between a two seatversion and a four seat version of vehicle 2 at the customer level wouldallow a customer to make such a switch as he or she sees fit, such as inresponse to particular events. For example, a golf course customer mightnormally wish to have vehicle 2 in a two seat configuration for normalgrounds maintenance purposes, but to convert vehicle 2 on a temporarybasis into a four seat configuration for a particular purpose, such ashosting a golf tournament, a charity event, or the like. This wouldprevent the end user customer from having to purchase both a two seatvehicle and a separate four seat vehicle. Such a two vehicle purchase isobviously more expensive for the customer than purchasing a single twoseat vehicle along with seat extension kit 92 of this invention.

Moreover, seat extension kit 92 of this invention is designed to fitinto vehicle 2 and to be bolted therein using bolt hole locations thatare pre-provided in both vehicle 2 as well as in frame extension 94 ofseat extension kit 92. There is no need to cut frame 4 of the originalvehicle apart in order to install seat extension kit 92 since frame 4 ofvehicle 2 is already pre-split and ready to be unbolted and pulledapart. There is no need to weld seat extension kit 92 back into frame 4in order to secure it. Thus, this invention involves a simple pre-splitframe that can be unbolted, pulled apart, seat extension kit 92 droppedin, certain ancillary components such as control cables replaced withlonger cables as provided in seat extension kit 92, and then re-boltedtogether. The advantages in this as opposed to a custom remanufacturemethod of making the conversion are apparent.

The use of seat extension kit 92 of this invention and the extendedvehicle that results provides an opportunity to provide an extended bed108 for use thereon. This aspect of the invention is shown in FIGS. 9and 10.

Referring first to FIG. 9, it can be seen that the original seatassembly 12 is designed to be removable from seat base 14. In terms ofsimplifying this removal, seat assembly 12 can be mounted to the rest ofseat base 14 by a quick release latching system (not shown). The quickrelease latching system allows the structure comprising the originalseat assembly 12 to be removed and installed as a unit by releasing thelatching system and pulling upwardly. Once removed, the structurecomprising the original seat assembly 12 may be reinstalled by loweringthe structure until it engages seat base 14 and pushing downwardly tocause the latching system to reengage. In any event for the purposes ofthe description of extended bed 108, the structure comprising theoriginal seat assembly is shown as having been disconnected andcompletely removed in FIG. 9. In addition, to removal of thesecomponents, the side arm rests 110 are also removed from seat base 14simply by unbolting arm rests 110 from seat base 14.

An extended bed kit is provided that includes a longer than normalextended bed 108. For example, in the unmodified vehicle as shown inFIG. 1 hereof, bed 32 normally has a four foot length. However, as shownin FIG. 9, in the extended vehicle resulting from the installation ofseat extension kit 92, the extended bed 108, e.g. a six foot bed, cannow be dropped down into place in vehicle 2 with the forward end ofextended bed 108 overlying and extending forwardly of seat base 14 forthe original seat assembly 12. In fact, extended bed 108 can extendforwardly over the newly added horizontal floorboard of seat extensionkit 92 to terminate just short of the newly added front row of seatsprovided by seat module 96. In terms of mounting extended bed 108, twolaterally spaced, fore-and-aft extending support channels or beams (notshown) will be first added to the open top of seat base 14 to helpsupport the additional length of extended bed 108 on seat base 14.Extended bed 108 is then bolted in place using various bolt holesprovided in rear frame portion 44 of vehicle 2 and various bolt holesprovided in the support channels or beams added to seat base 14. Ifdesired, extended bed 108 can be provided with raised sides byinstalling four staked or otherwise supported side walls around theperiphery of extended bed 108, thus converting extended bed 108 into anextended box.

Extended bed 108 gives the user of the extended vehicle the option tosacrifice the four seat configuration that was provided by the use ofseat extension kit 92 to gain a significantly longer load carrying bed.This can be quickly and easily done by popping out the original seatassembly 12, adding a couple of short support channels or beams to thetop of the now upwardly open seat base 14, and then installing extendedbed 108 atop vehicle 2 as described above. If or when the user wishes togo back to a four seat configuration, this process can be reversed withthe user removing extended bed 108, removing any additional supportchannels or beams from seat base 14 that had been used to support thefront end of extended bed 108, and then reinstalling the original seatassembly 12 and the side arm rests 110 atop seat base 14 to regain therear row of seats.

Various modifications of this invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of this invention is to belimited only by the appended claims.

1. A vehicle, which comprises: (a) a frame that is separable at alocation passing through an operator compartment of the vehicle intofront and rear sections with a seat base and a seat assembly of theoperator compartment remaining with the rear section and the operatorcompartment forward of the seat base and the seat assembly remainingwith the front section; (b) a seat extension kit received between theseparable front and rear sections of the frame, the seat extension kithaving a frame extension, a seat module, and a floorboard module thatmay be inserted between the separable front and rear sections of theframe with the frame extension of the seat extension kit being fastenedbetween the front and rear sections of the frame; and (c) the seatmodule when installed forming a new front row of seating and thefloorboard module when installed extending between the seat module andthe seat base and seat assembly of the operator compartment which seatbase and seat assembly form a rear row of seating located behind theinstalled seat and floorboard modules of the seat extension kit, therebyexpanding a seating capacity of the vehicle.
 2. The vehicle of claim 1,wherein the frame extension of the seat extension kit is fastened to thefront and rear sections of the frame by a plurality of fasteners whichuse pre-existing fastener holes provided in the front and rear sectionsof the frame and in the frame extension.
 3. The vehicle of claim 1,wherein the front section comprises a hollow, fore-and-aft extendingbeam having an interior through which a plurality of flexible connectingmembers are routed to pass from the front section to the rear section.4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the plurality of flexible connectingmembers are chosen from among the group of components consisting ofhydraulic hoses, wiring harnesses and mechanical control cables.
 5. Thevehicle of claim 3, wherein the frame extension of the seat extensionkit comprises a beam extension that forms a continuation of the interiorof the beam of the front section when the seat extension kit isinstalled between the front and rear sections of the vehicle with theplurality of flexible connecting members additionally passing through aninterior of the beam extension after first passing through the interiorof the beam.
 6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the seat base of theoperator compartment comprises laterally spaced molded side panels and afront panel that extends between front ends of the side panels, andwherein the seat module of the seat extension kit includes a second seatbase having front and side panels that are identical to the front andside panels used in the seat base of the operator compartment todecrease the cost of manufacturing the seat extension kit.
 7. Thevehicle of claim 6, wherein the second seat base includes a rear panelthat extends between rear ends of the side panels, the rear panel of thesecond seat base comprising a duplicate of the front panel of the seatbase to further decrease the cost of manufacturing the seat extensionkit.
 8. The vehicle of claim 6, wherein the floorboard module of theseat extension kit is identical to a floorboard of the operatorcompartment to further decrease the cost of manufacturing the seatextension kit.
 9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the rear section ofthe vehicle carries an engine and traction drive system for powering apair of rear drive wheels of the vehicle.
 10. The vehicle of claim 1,wherein the front row and the rear row of seating are open to the air atthe sides thereof.